WOW long time no posts!

Sorry that is has been so long since I last posted... in case you were wondering yes little man is here!  He is doing Awesome and all my butterfly jitters are starting to settle as I get more comfy in my new mommy of a boy skin!  I have some great stories to share and things that I have learned in the last 3 months!

Defeated

Today I am feeling defeated. I have been without a job this entire pregnancy. In the beginning I was too sick to even try to look. It killed me just to function for school. Then once I finally got over the sickness I was too pregnant for any places to want to hire me. They take one look at my belly and then call me later and say "we decided to go with a different canidate, who has more experience"... Whatever, I know it's because of the bump... and honestly while that is illegal I can understand. So today I got an e-mail from Career builder about a preschool position nearby. I am 2 weeks or less away from delivery and I only want 2 weeks off after baby, cause Scoot can take FMLA and keep the baby for a bit. I just really need/want a job. So I applied, they called me just a couple hours after I e-mailed my resume. I set up an interview for Saturday. I am hoping that they will allow me to wait 4 weeks to start. But most likely I will get "we need someone who can start right away.

So there you go, I feel defeated and I haven't even gone on the interview yet.

Hand dyed wool dryer balls

Ok so I bought the wool yarn for the sole purpose of making wool dryer balls. In a previous post I showed how I dyed that yarn using kool-aid. Well after 24 hours of drying it was finally ready to start making into dryer balls.

I used the entire 8oz skein to make one pair.

Here are the steps:

Step 1: Start a core with your yarn

Step 2: Keep winding wool till the core starts to round out

Step 3: Keep winding, you're half way there

Step 5: At last 2 finished wool yarn balls

Step 6: Use a crochet hook to secure the loose ends of the yarn inside the ball

Step 7: Stuff the yarn balls into a knee high sock, tie off between each ball, toss the caterpillar into a pillow case, wash on hot water with regular laundry, dry on hot heat, rewet or wash , then run through a hot dryer again.

Remove from sock and enjoy your new fuzzy wool dryer balls. They will continue to felt with continued use in the dryer. No need for fabric softener sheets, wool contains natural oils that soften clothes.

Dyeing wool take 2

Alright so my first attempt at dyeing the wool batting didn't turn out so well. The green color was absorbed by the top of the wool before it even had a chance to reach the bottom of the batting.

Back to the drawing board I went....

What if I put all the dye into the crock pot with the vinegar and water BEFORE adding the wool?

Well part of the scientific process is trials, so here goes:

Step 1: Make a dye bath (hot water, kool-aid or food coloring, and 1/2 cup white vinegar

Step 2: submerge wool into dye bath

Step 3: Use spoon to gently squish wool into dye bath till fully submerged

Step 4: Wait about 45 minutes

Step 5: When a spoon dipped into wool yield clear water, wool is done

Step 6: Dump wool gently into a colander to drain/cool

Step 7: Once cool transfer to a towel to dry, you may have to unroll the wool batting to make it dry faster, re-roll once dry

TIPS: Handle wet/hot wool very gently, any agitation or friction will cause the wool to begin to felt.

Did it work?

Color is even on both sides of the wool!

YAY! Success!

Here is all the wet wool batting

TIP: I did end up un-rolling all the colors and laying them flat to dry because they were still damp after 24 hours and I am too impatient to wait...

This is the wool batting re rolled into bales.

Finally ready to take to the preschool on Thursday and teach the kids how to felt their toy balls!

First times a charm, right?

WRONG!!!

Ok so here it is TRIAL 1 of dyeing the wool roving.

So first you divide your dry roving into smaller sections

Next you place your roving section into a crock pot and cover with water and 1/2 cup white vinegar, turn the crock to high and allow to slowly heat up.

Next you mix your dye, you can use kool-aid, food coloring, or gel coloring. Use HOT water, because cold water will shock the roving and cause it to felt.

Ok so now you pour the hot dye into the crock with the wool. Use a spoon to gently spread the color throughout the crock.

Cover with an inverted lid, and allow to "cook" for about an hour or till a spoon dipped into the water shows clear water in the crock.

Once the water is clear, gently dump the contents of crock into a colander that is in a sink. Be careful to not agitate the wool too much or else it will felt. Allow to drain and cool. Once cool squish out the excess water and transfer to a towel to dry.

Hmfpt? The dye didn't make it to the bottom of the wool. Crap, back to the drawing board

Rainbow butts are just more fun!

After dyeing the wool yarn, I decided to dye my prefold diapers that just arrived in the mail from Little Lions! (Edit: Little Lions diapers are no longer available for purchase.)

Here are the finished prefolds:

 

(L-R) Bahama blue, Tropical green, Orange, Sunshine yellow, Lime green, Ocean blue (repeat)

Now for what I did:

I ordered 12 toddler and 12 regular. I bought a rainbow of Dylon and Tulip brand colors. I was told that they are fiber reactive and would not bleed or fade like Rit brand dye. I read the directions and it seemed a little excessive to mix the dye in a cup, and then add to a sink of water. So I just filled the sink and added the dye. Stirred till all the powder was dissolved.

Tulip red was more pink so I mixed that with Sunshine yellow to make orange

Then I added my prefolds. Set the timer for 15 minutes and stirred/swished constantly. Then reset the timer for 45 minutes and came back to the sink every few minutes to give the diapers a swish. Cambree said it looked like soup. lol diaper soup!

Bahama Blue

Lime Green

Ocean Blue

Orange

Tropical Green

Sunshine Yellow

This is what they looked like right after they came out of the rinse cycle:

Bahama Blue

Lime Green

Ocean Blue

Tropical Green

(It appears I forgot to take a picture of the orange diaper, oh well it was 4am when it finished)

Sunshine Yellow

dying... dyeing... dead

DYEING! Wool yarn that is!

I finally found 100% virgin wool yarn today! I was like a kid in a candy store at Michael's crafts!  I went in for Dylon fabric dye and came out with a $9 skein of beautifully soft wool yarn. I was jumping up and down squealing with joy! (Imagine some crazy woman 35 weeks pregnant jumping and squealing in the very back corner of the store; made you laugh, didn't it).

Lion Brand

Ok, so as soon as I pulled myself back together, hoping no one I *knew* saw me, I took my lovely purchases to the counter to check out. $9.61 later and I was on my way home with my bland wool yarn.

I have been planning on dyeing wool yarn for a while so I pulled up my saved sites and refreshed my memory of the processes I wanted to use.

I started by winding the wool around a folding chair.

My little girl Em wanted to help so I let her wrap for a few.

After you have all the wool wrapped around the chair you need to secure the loop with acrylic yarn

Here is the loop off the chair

 Next you will place your loop into a dry/cold crock pot.

 

Add water, and 1 cup vinegar. You need enough to cover the yarn. Press down with your hands to completely wet the yarn and remove all air bubbles. Once wet turn crock pot on high.

 

Now it's time to start thinking about colors. Choose colors that complement each other and can blend well. The colors will mix in the crock pot.

I call these colors "bottle of sunshine"

You need to dump 2 packets of kool-aid of each color into a tall glass

Add about 5-6 ounces of HOT water to each cup

SLOWLY pour your colored water into different areas of the crock

It's hard to tell in this picture, but there are 3 different colors in there

Set a timer for 1 hour. Come back and check the progress of your cooking yarn. It is VERY important that you do not jiggle or agitate the hot yarn, or else it WILL felt.

If a spoon dipped into the crock yields clear water, your dyeing is done. Turn off the heat and take your crock pot to the bathroom. Very gently dump, er glide, the contents of the crock into a clean bathtub. Allow to cool completely. Don't touch or move the yarn, to avoid felting.

I wonder how this would look knitted?

Once cool, use a little shampoo to wash the yarn, very gently, using luke warm or cool water. Be careful to not agitate the wool too much or else you will cause it to felt. Once the yarn is washed clean, gently squish out the excess water. Lay on a thick towel to dry. Drying may take up to 24 hours.

Once fully dry, you can rewind the yarn and now you are ready to knit, crochet, or do whatever it is you plan on doing with your yarn. I am planning on felting mine.